sunsets // m.c [DISCONTINUED]

chapter 39

The next day, Clinton and Mitchel avoided one another at all cost. They made no contact whatsoever. Christian, Pat, and Jesse chose not to jump into their situation, knowing it'll only make things worse. Mitchel wanted to go out with his parents since they were leaving the next day, and he hoped they still had a good time despite what happened at his party.

"Kras," Mitchel said loudly, his voice echoing throughout the house.

"What?" Christian's voice was heard from the top of the stairs.

"You wanna come along?" The braided boy asked, approaching the stairs. "You know, with my parents and I?"

The blonde thought for a moment. "This is for you and your parents, I shouldn't come with."

"You haven't really spent time with them outside of the house," Mitchel shrugged softly, looking at his best friend. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind having you join us."

"You know what," a soft sigh left Christian's lips as a smile began to form. "You're right. Good on you for talking me into this, Mitty."

"No problem, man."

Christian made his way over to Mitchel and they walked out of the house. Biddi and Brian were already seated in the car, talking to one another. The two hopped in; Mitchel in the driver's seat and Christian in the back next to Brian.

"So, where are we headed today?" Brian asked.

"I figured we could go do some shopping for you two and then eat," Mitchel explained. "And once we're done, if you still want to do anything, we can figure it out." The braided boy put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

The four of them drove down the street in mostly comfortable silence. There was music playing quietly in the background from the radio, which was calming to Mitchel himself. Once they arrived at the mall, they stepped out of the vehicle.

"Where do we start?" Christian asked, looking at his best friend's parents as they looked up, scanning the area. It took them a moment before they decided to just walk around and decide as they did so.

They talked the whole time as they walked, which mostly consisted of Biddi trying to get Mitchel to talk to Clinton. However, the braided boy brushed off her request multiple times. Christian and Brian listened silently when it came up, knowing they had nothing else to say about the situation between the brothers.

"Hey, let's go in here," Mitchel said as he spotted the first store after a while, cutting off his mother mid sentence. "They should have stuff that you two would want to take home." The older woman sighed softly as she watched him walk ahead of the rest of them. She knew she was doing too much, but she hated the thought of her children arguing with one another.

The three of them followed the braided boy into the store and tried their best to act like nothing happened.

***

It was late at night when Mitchel's eyes shot wide open, causing him to sit up quickly on his bed. He planted heavily and looked around his dark bedroom, making sure everything was still the same. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax and slow his heart down from pounding.

A nightmare.

The braided boy shook his head softly and licked his lips, feeling them dry up. He quickly threw his blankets off of himself and got up from his bed. The feeling of the cold floor against his feet helped calm him down as he stood up.

He hasn't had a nightmare in years, making the feeling somewhat foreign to him once more. All he was able to remember was seeing Reese and Valentina along with Clinton, almost like what happened at his party, except Valentina managed to inflict harm toward Reese. Mitchel saw the wounds and bruises that his ex caused. They seemed so real, which is what scared him more. After a few moments, he reached for his phone to check for any texts from Reese. There was nothing, so he knew she was asleep.

He made his way toward his door and down the stairs before he entered the kitchen without turning the lights on. The quietness of the room brought a sense of ease to him. He went over to the fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of water, immediately twisting the cap off and taking large gulps of the liquid.

"You okay?" A voice was suddenly heard, making Mitchel nearly drop the bottle and choke on the water he already had in his mouth. The voice belonged to Clinton. He quickly pulled it away from his lips and turned to look at his brother, coughing quietly.

"I-I'm fine," the braided boy responded, recovering from his coughing fit. "What do you want?"

"Heard you come down here," Clinton said, leaning against the counter that was next to him. "Wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, I'm fine," Mitchel said as he let out a breath. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly. "I'm going back to sleep." He added after a few seconds of silence. As he began to walk past his brother, Clinton sighed and spoke up once more.

"I'm sorry, Mitchel," he said.

"I don't want to hear it, Clinton. It's too late for this shit. I just want to sleep."

Seconds later, Clinton muttered a quiet "okay," and Mitchel hurried up the stairs. He entered his room and closed the door softly, feeling a sense of relief from getting out of the kitchen. That was the first time they spoke to one another in a while

The braided Australian shook his head and plopped himself down on his bed, just wanting to get more rest. He felt his eyes grow heavy the longer he stayed still. Soon enough, he fell into a deep sleep, completely blocking out the encounter he had with Clinton.

—

[ a/n ]: this chapter's kinda short n also a filler. i'm sorry about not updating again for two weeks! had a bit of writer's block, hence the reason why this one turned out the way it did.

anyway, have you heard "HER" by chase yet? if so, what do you think? i personally love it so much. i can't wait for the new album. :)

one more thing, i just have to say that this book will soon be coming to an end! not sure when i will be stopping it, though. i'll have it figured out soon. but i will promise you that my next book will be more drama-filled than this one. so, i hope you're ready! :')

well, that's pretty much it. thank you for the love on this book. it truly means the world to me and motivates me more than you know. x

♡